Friday, June 20, 2008

OMNIGLOT.COM

I have just discovered a website for those of us fascinated by written language, signs & symbols (nerds of a certain order, I suppose). If you click on the title above, it will take you to a page on this site called "Puzzles" where people post pictures of scripts and languages they can't decipher in the hope that someone else can tell them what it is. My favorite is a postcard posted with this comment, "According to Dolly Hayde, most, if not all, the symbols on the postcard appear to hobo signs."

gotta love Hobo signs.

One of the artists on this site has invented his own system of hieroglyphs, from which he makes digital collages (his invention seems more interesting than his art, but it was interesting enough for a New York gallery to give him a show, so you might want to click that link and take a look.)

Also on this site are alternative ways of writing the English alphabet that people have invented. One of my favorites is the Awyis alphabet by Henry Lee, which he invented "as a more interesting, plant-like alternative alphabet for English". It looks like this:

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your art is always interesting and often reflective of our national situation. (see sand bags)And Culture Clash. Was that a super group comprised of Culture Club and The Clash).